Wheelchair camber is an angling of the rear wheels of a wheelchair relative to a conventional wheel that is vertical. If the wheelchair has cambered rear wheels, the top of the wheels are closer to the rider and the bottom of the wheels are farther away. Camber is conventionally measured in degrees from perpendicular relative to the surface on which the wheel rests. A higher degree represents a more angled wheel (relative to a vertical plane that is perpendicular to the ground). For example, a zero degree camber is defined as a wheel camber where the axle of the wheel is positioned horizontally and thus the wheels are located perpendicular to the ground in a vertical plane.
As camber is increased, the width of the wheelchair across the bottom increases. This adds lateral stability to the system by increasing the wheelchairs footprint which can be useful, for example, on hills. Increasing the camber can also place the push rims in a more ergonomic position for pushing and makes turning the wheelchair quicker.
Too much camber, however, can make fitting through doorways and other tight spaces a problem. What is needed then is a wheelchair with a wheel camber that can be easily be adjustable lower or having a smaller degree of camber to fit through doorways, and easily adjustable higher or having a greater degree of camber to give the rider stability, better control of the wheelchair and other benefits.